on preaching. Philemon, the book of Philemon. This is a very little book, but
it's a great story. Paul, the apostle, is in prison, and he writes to an old friend
of his, a man who heard the gospel under Paul, and the Lord saved
him under Paul's preaching. And he's a friend and a brother,
and we have reason to believe he was a well-to-do man, a man
named Philemon. Paul is writing him in verses
1 and 2. He says, I'm a prisoner of Jesus
Christ, and Timothy is with him. unto Philemon, our dearly beloved
and fellow laborer, and to our beloved Athia, his wife, and
another man there, Kippus, our fellow soldier, and to the church
and other believers that live with Philemon." Down in verse
4, he says, "...I thank my God, making mention of thee always
in my prayer." Paul loved this man and esteemed him highly.
Apparently he was a very, very kind, very generous, very charitable
man. Paul says that in verse 5, I
hear of your love and your faith which you have toward Christ
and toward all the saints. Verse 7, oh, you have refreshed
many, my brother. Many saints have been refreshed
by you." So Paul is writing to this man named Philemon, a dear
friend, a brother, a kind, generous man, a loving, faithful man. And he's writing to him about
a former servant of Philemon, a young man named Onesimus, who
was apparently a slave. And he was under the employ of
Philemon in his house. Apparently, Onesimus had run
away. And I believe he stole some money
for his journey. He embezzled some funds and stole
some things and ran away. Five through seven, Paul said,
I hear of your love and your communication and your great goodness to all the saints and
all that. Now, this young man, Onesimus,
if this man, Philemon, was a fine man, a good man, he was kind
to his servants. You know he was. Very kind, very
generous to all his employees. I couldn't help but think the
other day when we were in a restaurant and someone was waiting on us,
a lady was serving us. I couldn't help but think of
how our Lord must have treated the servants in the homes in
which He visited. You reckon He tipped big? Oh,
our Lord, more than any other. He had a kind word for them,
a word of thanks. to all who served him. Philemon was a kind man, and
he treated Onesimus well. He did all that was necessary. This young man named Onesimus,
but he wasn't happy. Onesimus wasn't happy. He had
everything that he could desire. Philemon was kind to him and
provided all of his needs, a home, shelter, food, clothing, Everything
that he could have needed, I'm sure, but on that, it just wasn't
enough. Like most young men, it just
wasn't enough. I'm not happy. I want to be on
my own. There's a big world out there,
and I want to see it, and I want to be a part of it, and I'll
be better off if I'm not under this tyranny and this authority. I'll be free! Yeah, right. So he ran away. He ran away. Now, Philemon was from Colossae, the city of
Colossae, which is over in Asia. This young Onesimus ran away
from there all the way to Rome. Now, that's across oceans. It's
thousands of miles. He had to have walked by foot
on the back of an ox cart. He had to have stowed away in
a ship, in the hull of a ship. He went through a rough journey,
in other words. He had a rough journey to get
to Rome. A rough road. He went through,
don't you know he fell among thieves, among, you name it,
opiates, anything. He ran into it and he experienced
it on the way. It all went wrong. Now, I believe the story went
like this. I'm quite sure it did, just surmising from what
we read. The story went like this. Paul,
years before this, had preached at Colossae. Paul was traveling
all over the world, and he preached at Colossae, and that's where
the Colossians heard the gospel from the Apostle Paul. The man
named Philemon there, a wealthy man, he heard the gospel. The
Lord saved him and his wife and others, this Archippus and others
there at Colossae, and a church was established there. I believe
Philemon had this young man named Onesimus there at the time. And
when the Lord saved Philemon, under Paul's preaching, why,
Philemon had his whole house to hear the gospel. Oh yeah,
Sunday came around, first day, and he had the, they might not
have wanted to go. Young Ole Nessimus, I don't,
Mr. Filey even said, really, I don't
want to go to church. Well, son, I'm sorry, but it's
the best thing for you, and you, if you, you're under my house,
and I'm, you're going to be there. You're going to go with me, and
you're going to hear the gospel. And so he did. Ole Nessimus had
to sit and listen to that old gospel. He heard it under Paul,
and he knew Paul. Don't you know Paul was kind
to Onesimus? Don't you know Paul was kind
to all the servants there? Oh, yes. Very kind indeed. A generous, kind, loving man
Paul was. And Onesimus, young Onesimus,
heard Paul preach that gospel as a very young man. Sometime
later, years later, Paul ends up in a Roman prison for preaching
that gospel. He traveled all across the continents
and across the ocean, and finally he was put in prison for preaching
the gospel. Now, like I said, old Nessimus,
he had it good where he was at. He had it good. In a house of a believer, all
of his needs provided, yet like All prodigals, all prodigal sons,
you know, they think, there's a better world out there. I'm
going to go see it. He thinks you'll be happy out
in the world. He ends up in the big city of Rome. Ah, big city
lights. Rome. Rome. Whatever, all roads lead to Rome.
You know, if you can just make it to the Big Apple or whatever
it was called. And like I said, he stole some
money, I believe, to make that journey. While he's in Rome,
he's wasting himself. He's wasting his money. He's
wasting his health. He's wasting away partying and
you know what goes on for a young, free freshman in college or in
Rome. He heard, you know, Paul was
famous, and someone told him in a roundabout way, there's
a fellow named Paul down in prison preaching. I know him. Well, I know him. I used to hear
him as a boy. Now, Paul was in prison, but
by God's sovereign grace, Paul was allowed to preach to whoever. Anybody who wanted to come to
the jail, they could sit and listen to Paul preach. And I
don't know if he was behind bars, and they were—I don't know. But
God's sovereign grace allowed people to just come, and they
did. They showed up, and Paul preached to them while he was
in jail. Now, the Spirit of God Almighty compelled this young
Onesimus, this young runaway slave. He was out in Rome, in
the midst of Rome, partying and carrying on and all that. He
compelled him to go hear Paul in the prison. He'd think about
the Lord's providence in bringing this man. He was under the gospel
as a young man. Had to take him across the oceans,
down a rough road, fall in among thieves and harlots and you name
it. You know it. He went through
it. Bring him all the way to Rome, down into a little miserable
jail cell for him to hear the gospel. He had to go through a great
deal in order to hear the gospel. That's the way the Lord does
things. The Lord moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform. He brings his people down a rough
road. You see, he breaks them first. I believe Onesimus, like the
prodigal, probably had pretty much come to a dead end. That's
where the Lord brings all his people to. to the end of themselves
and to have it at the end of this world. Well, he went down
to hear Paul preach. And you know what he heard? He
heard the same old message he heard when he was a boy. Same old message. How about he
thought when he first heard it? Well, Paul hadn't changed a bit. I heard that years ago, His sovereign
grace and His mercy and sin and repentance. I don't know how
many times he heard it, but he heard the same old, same old,
you know. He heard the same, but in the fullness of time,
in God's good time. I don't know how many messages
he heard Paul preach, but finally, one morning, He was listening
to Paul preach, and his ears opened as if God
was speaking to him and him only. His eyes opened. He was blind
before. He couldn't see that he was in a gutter. I'm free,
I'm free. Oh, Nessimus, you're bound by sin and iniquity. His eyes opened to see himself,
his eyes opened to see what Paul was saying, to see himself, to
see God, to see Christ, as Paul talked about the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Savior of sinners, the substitute for sinners. And his heart began
to break over his own rebellion against his good master, his
good and loving and kind master, Hylemon, who treated him so kindly,
and his family back there. I stole from him and he's worthless
now. He'd come to the end of himself
and he realized, I'm a no good wretched bum. His heart was broken over sin.
And the Lord saved that old boy. Changed him. Changed him
from a worthless runaway thief And now he's a faithful brother
and member of the church in the jail cell, First Baptist jail
cell of Rome. A faithful member of that church.
He just loves Paul. Oh, he loves that preacher. Before,
he scoffed at preachers, but now, oh, he just loves that preacher.
Loves that preacher and just wants nothing more. And all of
his old buddies. You know how it went. You know
how it went. He went back to them to tell them what, you know,
what the Lord had done. They laughed at him. You're kidding
me, O'Nessler. No. Why don't you come with me? We're not preaching at your church,
O'Nessler. Okay. I will. And he went back there, stayed
with his friends and his brothers now, Paul and a fellow, Timothy,
God's people and he just, he was a part of them. Now who could
do such a thing as this? Who could change such a fellow
like that? The power of the gospel of Christ,
him only. And now Paul is writing his friend. He's writing Brother Philemon
back there to tell him about Onesimus. what the Lord had done
for old Ole Miss, young Ole Miss. And he's writing him to ask him
to reconcile with it, to forgive him, to forgive him for being
a rebel and forgive him for stealing from him. Just forgive him and
receive him as a dear brother. Now, this is my story. This is my story. This is my
song. As a matter of fact, folks, this
is every single sinner's story. Yes, it is. If Christ has saved
you, this is what Christ has done for you. This, you see,
is like a conversation between the Lord Jesus Christ and the
Heavenly Father. That's what this is, about every
sinner, every wayward sinner such as we are, how that Christ
intercedes with the Father. on our account. Verse 10. Run
down there to verse 10. All right? He says in verse 10,
writing to Philemon, I beseech thee for my son, O Neslameth,
whom I have begotten in my bonds. I beseech thee. He's my son. I begotten him. I gave birth
to him. And go in prison. What's that? Well, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the scripture says, travailed in birth. for his people through
a very living birth. And he did that on Calvary's
cross, though he was bound by a cross. Yet really it was love
that bound him there, love for his people. And though in the
bondage, and though he was made sin for us, the Scripture said,
yet we are made the righteousness of God in him. And he has begotten
us. by that work of his on Calvary's
tree. He has begotten a people, given
birth to a people. Verse 11, he says, Paul goes
on to say, in time past now, I know in times past that Onesimus
was to you unprofitable. No good. You don't need him. He wasn't any good to you before.
He was unprofitable. Now, since the Lord has saved
him, now since the Lord has created a new creature in Christ in him,
now, well, he's profitable. He's good for something. He doesn't
think so, but he is. He is. He's good for something,
unprofitable. You know, Scripture says that
Christ died not for a good man. not for the righteous. It says
he died for the ungodly. It says Christ came to save not
good people, but sinners. Unprofitable. Ungodly, Scripture
calls them. Unworthy. And now those who,
but now, they were once, Paul said, you who were once a far-off,
far away from Christ, the gospel, yet now you are brought near.
He said, you who were ungodly, you are made righteous in Christ. You who were unprofitable, no
goods, thieves, behold, sons. Sons. Verse 12, Paul continues to write
in verse 12, he says, Now I have sent Onesimus again. I'm sending him back. I'm sending
him home. Thou, therefore, receive him. Oh, Thou, Leman, I'm sending
Onesimus home. Receive him, because he's like
my own Thou. He's near and dear to me. Receive
him. Look down at verse 17. If you count me therefore as
a partner, that we're together, that we're in union, that we're
as one, you receive him like you receive me. When he comes
to you, you receive him with open arms as if it were me. But turn back to John 17 with
me. Now, this is the conversation between Christ and the Father
in John 17. This is our mediator's intercessory
prayer. This is the letter, this is the
word which Christ himself spoke to the Father on the behalf of
us. Nancy Parks, this is Jesus Christ praying for you. Yes,
ma'am. Not Peter, James, John. You,
Nancy Parks, Dan Ogle, Amy Poff. Think of that like that. Don't
think of it as, well, he's talking about Peter and James. You! You
believe, don't you? You believe what the apostles
wrote? That's what he says here. I'm
praying for them. Not these apostles only, but
them that shall believe. through their preaching. That's
you, man. That's you, Mary Potts. This
is Christ speaking to the Father for an unprofitable girl like
you. And he's interceding for you. Look at verse 6 and 7. He
says, I have manifested thy name unto the men you gave me out
of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest
them thee, and they kept thy word. They believed, and now
they know that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are I've revealed
the gospel to them. I've done it. The Son has revealed
himself to every one of his sheep. The shepherd, they all hear his
voice. Verse ten, look at it. All mine are thine, Christ said
to the Father, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. And we are accepted in the beloved. As he is, John said, so are we. Look at verse 26. He says, I have declared unto
them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou
hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. Father, you love
me, love them. Yeah, I know you do. That's why
you sent me to them. See, it was the love of the Father
that sent Christ. to die for his people, to save
them. And the Father, you see, receives
all sinners in the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter how bad. The chief of sinners. Go back
to the text. All those that come unto God by Christ, he will receive,
the Scripture says. And we are accepted in the Beloved
as he is. So are we. Treats us like, though
we're unprofitable, yet he treats us like sons. Well, verse 14,
Paul says, Now without thy mind would I do nothing, that thy
benefit should not be, as it were, of necessity. That is,
you don't have to do this, but if you're willing. Willingly. You don't have to
do this. Onesimus has wronged you. He's stolen from you. You don't
have to forgive him. You don't have to receive him.
But for my sake, would you willingly receive him back, and forgive
him, and treat him as a brother for my sake? Philemon, I seek your willingness
to forgive, to restore. And the Scripture says, the Scripture
says, to every returning sinner, to every though unprofitable
prodigal, Scripture says, our God is ready to pardon. Now, that's what it says. It
says that he's not willing, and I say this of every returning
sinner, every one from the worst harlot and public, and blasphemer. He's not willing that any should
perish. Not one of them. Scripture says
he delights to show mercy. He delights to show mercy. He's
gracious, the Scripture says, merciful, slow to anger, great
in compassion. He will abundantly pardon them,
not just forgive, but take in his house as a son. Look at verse 15. I love this.
I love this. Verse 15. Paul says, writing
to Philemon, he says, Perhaps he therefore departed for Caesar, And now he's going to stay forever. He departed for a season, but
to be received forever, never to leave again. He ran away once.
He's running home now. He ran away from you once. He
was you he was running from. Now he's running to you. It was you he didn't want anything
to do with before. He wanted out from under your
reign and your rule. But now, he's begging you for
mercy. He left Rome for a while. Now
he's coming home to stay. Will you have him? And he or she's a new person.
They're a new person. Not the same old rebel. Look
at verse 16. Look at what all he says about
old Nessimus. He's a servant. Even more than
that, he's a brother and beloved. And he's special to me. He's
special to me. Brother, beloved, special. Ah,
people, salvation is up the Lord. Only God can take a rag-tag,
no-good, gutter-dwelling thief and run away like Onesimus and
turn him into a believer, a brother, a special person. A special person to all that
know him. Special. Why, before, it wasn't
anybody that would give you a plug nickel for Onesimus. Now everybody
in that church is inviting him over for dinner. Salvation is of the Lord. And
it's obvious, and it's powerful, and it's real, and it's forever. It's forever. You're not going
to get on that horse back in that hog pen. No, no. No, sir. He's home to stay. He's home to stay. A special
brother, loved by all. Well, look at that. It gets better. Verses 17 through 19. Paul says,
if you count me, if you count me therefore as a partner, if
we're in this thing together, if we're brothers united Receive
him as you would me, if he hath wronged thee, if he owes you
anything, put it on my account." Read on. I have written it. I, Paul, you know me, I'm faithful,
you know me. Whatever I say, I'll do it. I've
written with my own hand. I will repay it. I will repay
it. Whatever he owes you, you put
it on my account, and I'll take care of it. Because he doesn't
have anything to pay, but I'll pay it all. Oh, my, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the God-man. Listen to this. Have you ever
thought about this? The Lord Jesus Christ, as a man, all his
life, glorified God Almighty. He rendered
unto God what this man stole from God. God's glory, thanksgiving,
praise, worship, service, everything. I'm in God's house. God has fed
me, clothed me, watered me, taken care of me, healed me, raised
me up, given me, given me, given me, given me, given, give, give,
give, give, give, give, give. And for how many years didn't
give him a thought to care if he lived or died. But Jesus Christ came down as
a man. Now listen to me. As a 12-year-old boy, I remember being 12 years old.
That's when it really started. I remember, I remember like yesterday,
as a twelve-year-old boy, that's buddy, when I guess the juices
kicked in. Right before, you know, right,
almost thirteen, and you're, whew, ready, like a wild ass
is cold, Kelly, right? When those little colts get up
to a certain age, you know, eight or nine months, watch out. Watch
out. They're ready to tear the barn
door down. I remember as a twelve-year-old
boy, I remember my folks and the people saying, he's a sweet
little boy, he's a little devil, and if he doesn't end up dead
or in prison, it'll be by the sovereign grace of God. He's a little sinner. He may
be twelve, but he's capable of lying, cheating, cussing, just
you name it, he's capable. As a twelve-year-old boy, the
Lord God, Jesus Christ, as a twelve-year-old boy now, you think how miraculous
this is. It's a twelve-year-old boy. His
parents one time came looking for him. Where'd they find him?
Not out behind the bar smoking cigarettes. In the temple, listening
to this word being preached, asking questions, answering questions. They said, you've worried us,
son. as a twelve-year-old boy? Twelve-year-old boy. I didn't. He did. You see what I owed him, John?
What I owed God as a twelve-year-old boy. Jesus Christ paid it. You understand? For twelve years
I lived without giving God a thought. That's all Christ thought about
for twelve years. He paid God what I owed. As a
young man, as a young man, I gave no thoughts to God, only thoughts
of myself. You know, a twelve-year-old boy
is bad and an eighteen-year-old boy is worse. And girls, girls aren't sugar
and spice. As a young man, you know, eighteen,
nineteen, selfish, thinking only of myself, not thinking of anybody
but myself. Breaking people's hearts, breaking
God's law, thumbing my nose in God's face. Was this you, head
and strong? What can you tell an 18-year-old
boy, huh? You see, these young girls don't
know him. I do. These young girls wonder why
I was one. And it ain't worth a flip across
the board. He could have taken me and all
my buddies and lined us up and just shot us all, and the world
would have been a better place. I'm telling you the truth. Is
that you, Stan Anderson? But by the grace and mercy of
God, he put up with a bunch of wild asses. No good to anybody. Unprofitable. As an 18-year-old, a 19-year-old,
20-year-old, the God-man, he said this, he said, Lo, I come
in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will,
O God. I delight to do thy will, O God.
That's all I do. Why? He's doing it for me. Because I didn't. And I owe God
a lot. You know that? I owe God a lot. years of worship and praise. Our Lord did it all. He paid
it all. All the debt I owe. Whatever I broke, Christ fixed
it. Whatever I stole, He returned
it. Whatever I owed, He paid it. He took it. I earned justice
and judgment and hell and death, and he took it. I owed righteousness
and holiness and worship and praise, and he gave it. You see
that? Whatever he owes you, I'll pay
it. Put it on my account. That's
2 Corinthians 5.21. God hath made him to be sin for
us. He who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. He took our blood.
My, my. Verse 19, he goes on to say,
I have paid it and I will do whatever you say, or whatever
you need. I will repay it. I know you owe
me, he says, your own self. He will honor and love his Son,
God Almighty. He will honor every request. But in John 17, he said, I will,
that they be with me where I am. Okay, son. Okay, son. And may I speak as
a man? He could say, you don't want
him, surely. You don't want him, do you? You
want to bring that old care dog home with you? Huh? You don't
want that one, do you? Yeah, I do. That's the one I
want. Like Nancy's, your favorite store, Hosea and Gomer. Hosea
went down and got him the worst woman down there. A harlot. God told him to. Go down there
and marry that woman that's been a forlorn woman all over you.
You go marry her. You take her on your arm. And
you parade her in front of the whole world. And you say to everybody,
this is my wife. Not her, Shirley. Yes. And don't
you say a thing about her. You don't want him to. Yes, I
do. That's just the one I want. Okay. Okay. My, my. My, my. Look at verse 21
and 22. He said, now Philemon, I have
confidence in thy obedience. That's why I wrote unto you. I know you hear me. Does this
sound familiar? I know you hear me. Whatever
I've ever asked you, you've done it. And I'm writing this for
their sake. No, he didn't, but he could have.
That's what our Lord said. I know of your obedience, that's
why I wrote unto you. And I know, I know you'll do
more than I even ask you to do. That you'll do above, more than
above what I even ask or can even think. I know you'll do
it. And that's exactly what our God
does for the likes of unprofitable sinners, such as that. Like I
said, he not only forgives the worthless. What do you want with
him? Just do it for my glory. See, God gets great glory in
saving great sinners. It's not a great thing, Brother
Dan, if you invite Congressman whoever into your home and feed
them and house them and put them up and all that. But if you go
down into the ghettos and the slums and pick up a no-good bum
who can't do a thing for you, who's liable to steal from you,
cuss you to your face, now if you bring him home and feed him
and clothe him and house him, oh damn, you're a fine man. That's exactly what Christ did.
It gets more glory that way, you see? It gets more glory that
way by saving the likes of Old Testament. And it says in verse
22, prepare me, Paul said, prepare me a lodging. I trust, I believe
that through your prayers I'm going to be, I'm coming back. Is anybody with me here? You're
catching this. I'm coming back and prepare to receive me because
I'm coming back home. That's exactly what our Lord
Jesus Christ said. Oh, Father, I come to thee. I
come to thee. And before he did, he interceded
for sinners like us. Now, you've got to see this. Look down at the end of this
chapter, all right? At the very end, after it says, Amen. See that? It says, this was written
from Rome to Philemon by Onesimus, the serpent. In other words, Paul is saying this, he's saying all
this, and Onesimus is writing it down. And Paul is saying, he's hearing
his He's hearing his parting. He's hearing it all day. It wasn't
a private letter. He's hearing every word of it.
He's profitable. Oh no, Paul, don't write that.
Don't say I'm profitable. I'm still unprofitable. Well,
I've written. I've written. You write it down. Receive him as me. I'll just
want to be a servant out there and I'll go back to being a slave. No, you write down what I said,
Onesimus. You just sit there and hush.
Write it down. Receive him as me. Not just a
servant, a son. Amen. Now, Onesimus, you take
it to him. Oh no, send it with somebody
else. No, you take it in your hands,
this letter, your pardon. And you go face to face with
the one you rebelled against. And you say, here's a letter
from Paul. We returned home, and you know
what that was like for him. Oh, had his tail tucked between
his legs. Coming home. Guilty. No good. Thief. What's his hope? What's his hope? Well, he's cleaned
up. He's turned over a new leaf.
Now Phi Leman can use him. Oh, no. No. Now he thinks he's
worse than ever. He thinks he's worse than ever
now. What's his hope? I bet he's thinking, if I leave
him, I don't know if he'll have me or not. What's his hope? That right there. Here's a letter. And old Nesmus read that letter.
It's from Paul. Oh, Paul. Whatever he owes you, I'll pay
it. Come on in, son. Come on. You hungry? Sit down. Let me
serve you. Oh, mister, it's too good to
be true. I must be dreaming. I must be dreaming. No, this
is the good news. This is the good news. All right,
I hope there's an Onesimus out there, be he may or be she be
may. Let's turn and sing. What if
I said number six? Would we be able to sing? 425.
425. 425. That's about the best story you've ever heard. 425. That's not it, John. What is
it? 475. 475, that's it. 475. John, come up, please. Stand
with me. 475. Reaching for our loved ones proclaiming,
Reaching for the blood of the Lamb, Reaching to remember His
mercy, His silence for every life. Let's sing the last verse, the
last verse. I know I shall see in His beauty
the King in whom all are delight, who loveth me, guardeth my good
self, and giveth me something that might be me, be me. Relief, relief, if God is forever
alive. you. you